I arrived at
Camp Drake Japan in December of 1956 from Ft. Belvoir, Va. I
spent a couple of days there and then [was] sent on to
Southern Japan where I was assigned to A Company 802nd heavy
construction Eng.
The day after
X-mas 1956 I was moved by plane to Iwo. When we off loaded
on the tarmac I had never experienced such heat and
humidity. I was met by a rep from A Company and this same
day assigned a D-8 cat 5 ton tractor and 25 ton low by to
move with.
I was assigned
the night shift and the next day started working 1800 Hrs to
0600 Hrs. One of my jobs was moving in dirt building ramps
on three sides of these buildings that A Co had built before
I arrived.
I pushed out
several old weapons and ammo also human bones from the
dirt.
We very seldom
got any time off . Most of my off time was spent searching
for an opening to Mt Sarabachi. The rumor was that the
Japanese had buried a complete payroll in the
mountain.
Our Company
lived in tents below the air base best I can remember maybe
100 yards from the tarmac.
While we were
there we built a high wire fence around this area where we
worked. We used a truck mounted earth auger to bore holes
for the fence post. After these holes were dug steam would
start coming up from the holes and you could not keep your
hand in one of these due to the heat.
The ground
where we were using the D-8 cats to dig was almost
impossible as the ground was very hard and after you dug
down 6 inches or more steam would start rising and made it
very hard to see what you were doing with your cat
blade.
After this job
was completed in May 1957 we started loading out by LST for
our move back to Japan. I had worked all night and was in
the mess tent eating breakfast when the ground started to
shake and we heard a very loud explosion. We rushed outside
to see large rocks and and steam blowing several feet in the
air. The ground had opened up between the runway and Mt.
Sarabachi. We were not able to get very close but close
enough to see a deep crater several feet deep and maybe 100
ft across. This was front page news in the Stars and
Stripes. I had a copy of this for several years and sometime
during one of my moves it was lost.
I never knew
what was to be stored in these buildings. If you know please
let me know.
I hope this
bit of information about my time on Iwo will be
helpful...
MSG Retired Harold
M. Spear
Harold
M. Spear
Note: To view
images taken by the web master on World War II Stories -- In
Their Own Words during his year on Iwo Jima, please click on
the following link to my World War II Stories Photo
Album:
WW
II Stories: Iwo Jima Photo Album
1965-1966
Did YOU serve on Iwo Jima?
Did you know that
there is a group of veterans who have gotten together to
form an association of servicemen, no matter what branch of
service, who served at one time or another starting at the
invasion of the island on February 19, 1945 and continuing
until the island was eventually returned to the Japanese in
1968?
Iwo
Veterans Organization
We, at the
Iwo
Jima Memoirs web site wish to offer to Mr. Harold Spear
our most profound THANK YOU for his poignant story of his
personal experiences -- during his tour of Iwo Jima and
especially for allowing us to share those
memories.
Original story transcribed on 4 January 2004
Did YOU serve on
Iwo Jima?
Do YOU have
a story to tell?
Do YOU have a picture or pictures
that tells a story?
Contact me, Joe
Richard and I can help by adding YOUR story to my site
devoted to veterans who served on Iwo Jima.
Check out my
other web site on World War II. Click on the Image
Below:
